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Week 25 and we've got a visit from Mr BRKfest, Solarbear! Get yourself ready, Curtis Ware ain't messing ya, catch the track here!
WT:
To begin with, how did you first come
into contact with the chiptune scene?
Solarbear: I guess it all started when I saw the movie
"Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World". I loved the music in that movie, so I
bought the soundtrack. Good stuff. The last track on it was a chiptune version
of the song "Threshold" and it was, honestly, the first chiptune I'd
ever heard. After a few Google searches and YouTube vids about chiptune I
stumbled upon the documentary "Reformat the Planet" on Hulu and I was
hooked! It was all downhill from there, haha!
WT: Do artists like Bit Shifter play a big influence on your music, or do you
draw influence from elsewhere?
S: Well, of course many of the "classic" chiptune artists have a
little something or other to do with my sound, but honestly I'm REALLY ignorant
of pre-2012 chiptune, haha! I don't know my history. Most of my influence comes
from bands that I enjoy like Between the Buried and Me, Dillinger Escape Plan
and Queens of the Stone Age. I guess that's why I've never been very good at
"dance" chip music and have found myself more under a
"progressive rock" type of distinction.
WT: So would you say live you’re attempting to emulate a style more similar
to chiptune or prog rock, or something freeform altogether?
S: I guess that depends on what exactly you define chiptune as. Personally,
I think it's much less a genre and much more of a set of instruments, like
Brass, String, Woodwind, Chiptune, etc. That in mind, I'd say I write
progressive rock with an arsenal of chiptune devices.
WT: Could you tell us a bit about BRKfest, how it came about and the upcoming
second annual incarnation please?
S: Oh dat BRK....
Once upon a
time in Cincinnati, Andrew Gould, Hunter Quinn and I joked about how cool it'd
be to make our own chiptune festival and like 6 months later and hundreds of
man hours in, we did it! Seriously
though, it was a ton of hard work, incredible luck and the assistance of so
many awesome, caring people.This year is
looking even bigger than last time with a hefty 27 unique and killer artists!
That's not even including the Datathrash Preshow! It's gonna be one hell of a
ride, that's for sure!
WT: What
goes into deciding who plays?
S: More than anything else, the most important thing is passion. That's why
we've invited many more up-and-coming artists than long established ones. The
guys who are really shooting for it are the ones who deserve to play, so that's
who we get. Other than, that... submit demos and make good music!!!
WT: Recently you played 8static. How did
that come about and how did you find the experience?
S: Oh man!! 8static was something outta this world!! Emily from 8static hit
me up a month beforehand, asking if I would be interested in playing June's
edition. Of course, I was ecstatic, especially after finding out I'd be sharing
the stage with StormBlooper and Ultrasyd!
It might
have honestly been the best experience in my life. So many good chip artists
showed their stuff at the open mic, StormBlooper and Ultrasyd killed it, and I
crowd surfed while playing some live mode jams, hahaha!! Awesome.
WT: Could you tell us a bit about how you went about creating Solarbear
Daisuki please?
S: Well, Solarbear Daisuki took about a year to compose and about two
months to mix and master. (I have a day job... So shut up. I know how long that
is.) I had some very tight assistance from the ever so lovely Roboctopus and
plenty of mixing tips from the master of disaster Smiletron so... I guess all
in all, it didn't come out too badly!
In all
honestly, the "Solarbear Daisuki" train is still rolling since I'll
be adding posters of the album's cover to my bandcamp merch this month!!
WT: What were the influences behind Solarbear Daisuki, and what prompted the
violent nods to Japanese culture?
S: Aside from the progressive metal influences that I've touched on
already, Roboctopus' "Victory Lapse" and an0va's "Teaching
Machine" were large chip influences on my style and pacing. Both of those
albums are very "song" oriented... and by that I mean they aren't
just dance music to be played in clubs. Those albums, to me, have a very
lyrical quality in their leads and I tried to grab a hold of that on Solarbear
Daisuki, especially on the song "How to Properly Use a Semicolon".
Honestly,
the nod to Japanese themes was more of a later thought. It was really half my
own preferences in art and theme; the other half was what I thought individuals
who would enjoy my music would find appealing. In truthfulness, I think it
worked quite well.
WT: Could you tell us a bit about the nearing-iconographic cover art of Solar
Daisuki, who drew it and why you chose that cover?
S: Iconographic?! You flatter me, you fucking charmer, you! Haha!
I'm of the mind-set
that to get a good commissioned piece of art, you have to know an artist's
strengths and weaknesses. The cover was drawn by anime artist
"Emperpep", who I've had the pleasure of being aware of for a long
time. That way, I knew that whatever I commissioned them to do would come out
well. I gave them a LOT of freedom in the cover (basically saying, "It's
for an album... Gameboys... neon anime girls...") and they pulled out that
awesome piece!
I put the
text over top of the art myself and I think it came out mostly OK, but that
cover was one of the best decisions I've ever made, haha!
WT: Could you tell us about the specific
influences that went into your Weekly Treat submission?
S: "Animals Do Not Belong in the Street" didn't specifically come
from any influence, I think, other than just me beat boxing while I drive home,
haha. (I like to try to beat box in odd time signatures at high tempos, lol)
Obviously, my math rock/progressive metal love is where the piece takes its
root, but probably not any more than any of the rest of my work after the
summer of 2012. Still, I
think it's a pretty decent piece and I hope it'll be a solid addition to Weekly
Treats!
WT: And finally, what are your future plans for Solarbear?
S: Well... Hard to say, honestly!! Right now BRKfest is the big bite on my
plate, so I’ll probably hold off on new music until after August. After that,
the sky is the limit!! Maybe a progressive chip metal album? Who knows!!!
